Laurin, Robson, Lester – 2023 Federal Budget Buries Prudence under Billions of New Spending and Borrowing
To: Canada’s budget observers From: Alexandre Laurin, William B.P. Robson and John Lester Date: April 6, 2023 Re: 2023 Federal Budget Buries Prudence under Billions of New Spending and Borrowing A major theme in the run-up to the 2023 federal budget was the government’s commitment to prudence. Prudence was also a major theme in the run-up to the 2022 […] Don Drummond: The budget’s bogus spending restraint – Financial Post Op-Ed
The 2023 federal budget rests its case for fiscal discipline, even restraint, on promised savings in operating expenses that amount to billions of dollars. Key passages from this part of the budget include:
“Budget 2023 proposes to reduce spending on consulting, other professional services, and travel by roughly 15 per cent of planned 2023-24 discretionary spending in these areas.” “Budget 2023 proposes to phase in a roughly three per cent reduction of eligible spending by departments and agencies by 2026-27.” “Budget 2023 announces the introduction of cross-government program effectiveness reviews, to be led by the President of the Treasury Board. The first review will examine skills training and youth programming, to…Budget 2023 neither prudent nor fair to future generations – Financial Post Op-Ed
A major theme in the run-up to Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s budget was the government’s commitment to prudence. Prudence was also a major theme in the run-up to last year’s budget. In both years, however, the run-up proved misleading. Last year’s budget hiked projections for spending and borrowing. This year’s also involves much higher future spending and borrowing than the run-up led us to expect, ruling out the 2027-28 return to surplus promised last year.
Because the fiscal plan buries the key numbers under hundreds of pages of political messaging and re-hashed material, it takes some digging to discover just how much the budget repeats the imprudence of its predecessors. What the digging reveals is that lower-than-…
Laurin, Lester – Today’s Federal Budget Must Correct Course by Showing Discipline, Smarter Taxes and Spending
To: Federal Budget Observers From: Alex Laurin and John Lester Date: March 28, 2023 RE: Today’s Federal Budget Must Correct Course by Showing Discipline, Smarter Taxes and Spending Today’s federal budget is an opportunity for Ottawa to show real fiscal discipline and to demonstrate a commitment to improving Canada’s business investment and productivity […] Part 1 – Bill Robson on BNN: We see a whole lot more spending that isn’t financed by current taxes
Bill Robson, CEO of the C.D. Howe Institute, joins BNN Bloomberg to discuss the highlights from the Liberals 2023-2024 Federal Budget.
Ernewein, Laurin, Dahir – A New Alternative Minimum Tax for Canada?
To: Federal Budget Observers From: Brian Ernewein, Alexandre Laurin and Nicholas Dahir Date: March 27, 2023 Re: A new Alternative Minimum Tax for Canada? In the 1984 federal leaders’ election debate, Brian Mulroney set the stage for the introduction of a personal minimum tax in Canada: I think it’s unfair that an individual not pay a minimum tax . […] Robson, Drummond, Laurin – Let’s Ditch our Obsolete Retirement Tax Rules
From: William B.P. Robson, Don Drummond and Alexandre Laurin To: Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland Date: March 24, 2023 Re: Let’s Ditch Our Obsolete Retirement Tax Rules With the worst of COVID-19 behind us, the federal government needs to re-focus on long-standing stresses, including tax rules that limit many Canadians from saving as much for retirement as they would like and may need, and […] Ottawa Needs a New Approach to Fiscal Policy
The current federal fiscal framework is imprudent and unfair to future generations. A new approach to fiscal policy is needed. The government has demonstrated a bias for deficit financing. Budgets from 2016 to 2019 showed deficits throughout each five-year forecast horizon. A commitment to balancing the budget was made in 2016, but dropped in 2019 when […] A More Realistic Outlook for Ottawa: The Odds of a Rising Debt Ratio
What are the odds of a rising debt ratio? Next week’s federal budget will most likely showcase a long-run fiscal projection that shows debt on a strong downward trajectory. In the 2022 Fall Economic Statement, the federal government projected it would achieve positive net worth by 2055/56. We came up with a more realistic outlook […] Ian Irvine – Excise Taxes on Vaping Products: A Grey Forecast
From: Ian Irvine To: Canadians Concerned About Vaping Date: March 8, 2023 Re: Excise Taxes on Vaping Products: A grey forecast The power to tax tobacco in Canada is shared between federal and provincial governments. The federal government imposed an excise tax on e-cigarette liquid products in October of 2022. If the provinces match that – and Quebec […] The Morning After: A Post-Binge Federal Shadow Budget for 2023
With the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic behind us, a concerning trajectory of federal spending has become clear. The economic rebound and higher inflation have boosted federal revenues, and the government is spending almost all the new money.While some new spending is arguably effective in improving Canadian wellbeing, most is not. Federal compensation costs are […] Shadow Budget 2023 with Bill Robson and Don Drummond
In episode three of the C.D. Howe Institute Podcast, we ask what should Federal Budget 2023 look like? According to the C.D. Howe Institute’s CEO Bill Robson and Fellow-in-Residence Don Drummond, Ottawa needs to reign-in spending or risk re-accelerating inflation. But what about climbing debt loads, a healthcare system in crisis, and the constant march of climate change?